Aftermath VIII
by Siese
Summary: 6 months later. Julie Adams is a new gunblader at Balamb Garden, and when she's signed up with Seifer Almasy to train, what other problems could arise for the two aspiring students? Sucky summary. Just read it, please.
1. Gunblader 3

I apologize yet again to all my reviewers for not finishing all my old stories. This one has been stuck in my head for like a month now, and I really need to get it out. I promise I'll continue my old ones soon. I'm just having a bout of writer's block.

Disclaimer: I own nothing from Final Fantasy VIII. Square owns it all. I can just pretend for a while, though…right?

AN: Sorry guys! I promise Seifer will be in the next chappie! I'm just trying to get my character oriented with Balamb Garden right now and introduce her as one of the main characters, but I promise the hot rebel will be in the next chapter for real. That's when the fun starts. You see him in this chapter, but you don't really get to see the main character talk to him. Just keep reading! I wuv you guys! Now, on with the happy goodness.

Chapter Uno: "Gunblader #3?"

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**Six months after the end of Final Fantasy VIII**

Balamb Garden was enormous. That's all Julie Adams had to say about that. She tossed her light brown hair out of her eyes, dark blue eyes scanning the hallways. She needed to get to the headmaster's office, but she didn't know where it was.

Sighing, she started toward a small group of three girls who appeared to be nice enough. She smiled politely and asked, "Excuse me. Can you tell me how to get to the headmaster's office? I just transferred here, and I'm a bit lost."

One of the girls, with black hair and brown eyes, nodded. "Sure. Come on, guys. We can show her where it is."

They led her through the brightly lit hallway, past the map of Garden, up a flight of stairs, and to an elevator. "Okay." The dark-headed girl said. "Go into the elevator and go up to the 3rd floor. That's the headmaster's office."

"Thank you. Maybe I'll see you all later?" She asked.

The three girls all nodded. "Sure." One of them, a blonde, pointed to something she was carrying. "What's in there?"

It was a long, thin, silver case. Inside, was "My gunblade."

"Gunblade!" They all exclaimed.

"There's only two gunbladers here in Balamb Garden!" The dark-headed one said.

"What's your name?" They asked.

"Julie. Julie Adams."

The dark-headed girl nodded. "I'm Kaitlynn. The blond is Kristy, and the red-head is Alicia."

"It's nice to meet all of you." Julie nodded to each of them. "But I guess I should go see the headmaster about getting started at this school. I'll see you later." She bade them farewell and stepped into the elevator. She pressed the button for floor 3 and waited patiently as it churned upwards, leaving her feeling a bit queasy when she stepped off seconds later.

A girl sitting behind a wooden desk to her left caught her attention. "Oh, hello there. My name is Xu." The girl supplied. "Headmaster Cid is waiting for you right through that door."

Julie nodded silently and walked through the double doors and into the headmaster's office.

A wide wall made of nothing but windows created a welcoming atmosphere that Julie admired. The room had the air of a professional while being laid back and comfortable all at the same time. She could see greenery outside the window, adding to the comfortable feeling in the room. And sitting before her was Headmaster Cid himself, in all his old-aged glory.

He glanced up at her with a crinkled smile on his face. "And you must be…" He paused to glance down at the folder on his desk. "Julie Adams. I'm very pleased to meet you. I'm Cid Kramer, Headmaster of Balamb Garden."

She smiled. "The pleasure is mine, Headmaster."

"Now, I hear that you are a gunblader, no?" He asked, eyeing the silver case in her hand. "May I see it?"

She nodded and drew out her beloved blade. The blade itself was black with a silver sketch of a rose on the blade two inches away from the revolver. She'd taught herself how to use it, how to shoot it, how to hold it. No one had told her she had to do it all a certain way. She decided everything for herself. That was one reason she adored it so much. It was a symbol of her independence: a symbol that she didn't need anyone.

"Now," the headmaster said, "I assume that you'll want someone to train with who has the same abilities as you, am I right?"

She shrugged. She didn't care one way or another. She could train herself, or she could train with someone. It didn't make any difference to her. "I really don't care, sir." She voiced aloud.

He nodded, observing another sheet of paper on his desk. "Well, seeing as how Squall—my commander—has enough on his hands without training a new student as well, the only other gunblader here besides him is…Seifer." He seemed reluctant, though Julie didn't know why.

"Um, is there something wrong with this Seifer?"

Cid shook himself out of his reverie. "No, no. He's a fine pupil, if not somewhat rebellious. It's just that…oh never mind. I won't bother you with it. He is excellent on the gunblade, one of the best. He's only been here about three weeks longer than you, in fact. Maybe you could help each other out. I'll speak with him about you later and see if he has any problems with this arrangement."

Cid stood, offering her a folder. "Inside this folder is a list of your classes, your dorm number and the key to get in, a map of the school, and a calendar that displays all of the extracurricular activities, such as dances and festivals and whatnot. Selphie Tilmitt—one of my SeeD's here—made the calendar herself for all the new students, hoping they go to a few of the activities in hopes that they'll make new friends. She's quite a smart girl."

Julie opened the folder and glanced over it. She had homeroom with someone named Quistis Trepe, whoever that was.

He shook his head. "I'm sorry. I don't mean to ramble. I must send you on your way, Miss Adams. I have many things to do today." He paused, as if wondering what he might be forgetting, and then exclaimed, "Oh! You don't have a roommate, because all the students got here sooner and were placed with other students, so you have a room all to yourself. I hope you don't mind."

Quite the contrary, she was ecstatic. She had been a little worried what her roommate would be like and if they would get along, but now it seemed that it was futile concern. _A room to myself_, she pondered. _How nice_.

Bidding the headmaster farewell, she traced her footsteps back to the elevator and took it to the floor she'd first begun on. From there, she took a peek at the map that had been given to her and started in the direction of the dormitory.

That was her dorm number. It was intriguing for her to find that the ground floor just made one enormous circle. She thought it was a very bright idea. It made it much easier to find your way around—no pun intended.

After a bit of snooping, she finally found her room. Sliding the keycard into the slot—and after watching in fascination as the door _swished_ open when she pushed a button on the handle—she stepped inside her new home.

It was quite plain. A plastic plant sat in the corner on the right next to her bedroom door. In the middle of the little sitting room were a table and a couch, and on the far wall was another door, which led into the bathroom. All the walls were white, and the floor was white carpet. _No grape juice for me unless I want to dye the color of the floor_, she mused cynically. She'd definitely have a hard time keeping the floor as spotless as it was now.

She dropped her suitcase in the floor where she stood, her backpack soon following, and gently placed the metal case on the table in the middle of the room. It was the one thing she cared about that she was carrying.

She'd just flopped down on the couch…when the phone rang on the wall by the door she'd come in at. With a groan, she hopped back onto her feet and answered it.

"Hey, this is Julie," she announced, trying to sound friendly. After all, she had no idea who could be on the other end.

"Hey, Julie! It's Alicia. You know, the redheaded girl from earlier. Anyway, we wanted you to come to the cafeteria to eat lunch with us. You up for it, or are you too tired?"

Julie sighed inaudibly. But with a deep breath, she grimaced and said cheerily, "Sure! I'll be right over."

"Cool! We'll see you there." _Click_.

Julie kicked the wall, blue eyes flashing in mild irritation at herself. She wanted friends, of course, but she was tired from all the traveling she'd been doing. She wanted to rest for a while, not chat it up with a bunch of hyper teenage girls. Yes, Julie knew she was only seventeen and was the same age as they were, but she never really _thought_ of herself as one of them. She'd always felt different from the other girls…more mature somehow.

With a sigh, she grabbed her keycard, stuck it in her back pocket, and strode out the door.

The cafeteria was buzzing with activity, it being only about 12:30 in the afternoon. Not feeling very hungry, Julie just sought out the trio and sat down at the round table with them.

"Hey!" They greeted enthusiastically. "You not hungry?"

Julie shook her head. "Not really. I'll probably eat something later."

Kaitlynn, the dark-haired one, nodded. "I understand. So, what classes do you have?"

Julie shrugged. "I've got homeroom with Quistis Trepe. That was all I looked at."

They all shook their heads. "We don't have her for homeroom. Guess you're on your own in that one. Anything else?"

Julie shrugged again. "I didn't look very closely at it."

"What about training? Do you have that with anyone?"

"Yeah." Julie nodded, trying to remember his name. "It's someone named…what was it? Seifer, that was it."

She received horrified stares for that one. "Seifer? As in Seifer Almasy?"

That name rung a bell inside Julie's head, though for the life of her she couldn't place it. "Is there something wrong with him? The headmaster didn't really seem very thrilled that I was training with him, either."

"Do you remember the Sorceress six months ago?"

Suddenly everything inside Julie's mind clicked. _Seifer Almasy_. She remembered. She remembered what he'd done to people, how he'd led to the humiliation of the entire Galbadian army—her home's army. Oh, she remembered.

"Hyne." She muttered.

"Speak of the devil." Kristy's blonde head turned to the entrance to the cafeteria.

All eyes followed hers—and not just on their table. It seemed Seifer Almasy was quite an unpopular fellow at this school.

Julie's eyes were glued to him. She'd never seen him before, and he was nothing like she'd imagined him.

He had golden blonde hair, a few bangs feeling rebellious and falling into his blue-green eyes. A long white coat hid most of his body from view, but it didn't matter. He had the lean, muscular body of a fighter. Gloves donned his hands, and the lack of visible skin gave him an aura that was unapproachable. His cheekbones were high: a sculptor's dream. Flawless, pale complexion; full, pink lips. His eyes were cold, even though he'd long since been relieved of his duty as the Sorceress' lapdog. Julie could determine why his eyes were so cold. They'd been hardened to respond to the kind of treatment he'd been reduced to.

Julie tore her eyes away from the beauty in the doorway to see everyone else's reaction. The entire room had become slightly more hushed than before. All through the cafeteria, she saw sneers and obscene gestures flying in his direction. The air was so thick with tension it could've been cut with her gunblade, had she had it with her.

Her eyes returning to Seifer, she—no one but she—saw the annoyance cross his features. Without a sound, he spun on his heel and left the room.

"Why is he here?" Julie asked when the room had returned to normal now that Seifer had left.

Kaitlynn shrugged. "Cid thought Seifer wasn't in control of his actions when the Sorceress was ruling, so he let him back in. He isn't a SeeD yet, but he's training to be. See, he was here training—and failing—to be a SeeD. So, he picked up where he left off. He's only been here a few weeks. I think he spent some time down in…where was it Alicia?"

"Fisherman's Horizon." Alicia replied automatically, taking a delicate bite of a fry.

"Yeah, that was it. They said the fishing was good therapy, or something like that." She shrugged. "I still don't trust him, and neither does anyone else. You'd be better off asking him if you can switch training partners. Seifer will probably eat you alive."

Julie snorted. "I think I can hold my own, thanks."

"I hope so, Julie. I sure do hope so."

Julie, feeling a bit ruffled by what had just taken place, stood to leave. "I'm kind of tired. I'm going to go back to my room for a while and unpack. Then, maybe I can take a much-needed nap or something like that. I'll see you guys later."

They waved and wished Julie a very nice nap, and Julie walked out of the cafeteria, an unconscious and unnoticed scowl shading her ocean-blue eyes from view.

She thought her brain was going to explode when she saw Seifer standing in the hallway. She didn't mean to stare, but she just couldn't help it. What surprised her even more, however, was how he casually stared back. His eyes flashed shamelessly down her form, and Julie felt heat rise in her cheeks. He nodded ever so slightly to her, and she almost missed the movement entirely. Without meaning to do so, she smiled at him. She wasn't sure why she did it, but for some reason she was happy that he'd acknowledged her without having to do so later when they met up to train. At least he'd noticed her outside of work.

When he saw her smile, a smirk turned up one corner of that sensuous mouth of his. And for some reason, Julie knew he wouldn't give her any problems. Tomorrow, her first day of school, would be very interesting indeed.

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Yesssss! I'm finished with Chapter One! Does funky fresh dance moves Woo-hoo! PAAH-TAY! As Selphie would say, anyway. Yay! I should probably thank my stupid boyfriend for not coming to see me march in the marching band (yes I'm a band geek. Laugh all you want. I do, too.) And instead he went to go watch our rivals march, which is where he's from. So this is my Ben & Jerry's, so to speak, since I can't drown my sorrows in a pint of that. I finish a chapter instead! And I can't eat ice cream…because I'm lactose intolerant. Yes, you heard me. Anyway, I really hope I get reviews for this, because this has been beating against the walls of my brain for quite some time now. So…don't forget to review my lovelies! It doesn't take that long…unless your computer is as crappy as mine, in which case I GUESS I understand why you don't review my stories. I'm going to get started on the 2nd chapter right now, so I'll babble more later, maybe. 


	2. Meeting The Enemy

Yay! Go me! A second chapter in one week! Aren't you proud? Doesn't it make you want to rreevviieeww! LOL. Just kidding. I even accept flames. I've never had one before, actually, so I have no reason not to accept them. If I get one and I really don't like it, _then_ I'll tell you not to write flames…til then feel free! I don't care, just so long as I get a review. Ain't that sorry? I'm that desperate.

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Chapter Two: "Meeting 'The Enemy'"

Breakfast? A fleeting dream as Julie ran out of her dorm room. She'd gone straight to bed after leaving the cafeteria and having the stare-down with Seifer, and look where it got her: late for homeroom. She was going to make a great first-day impression (yes, that was sarcasm).

So, up the flight of stairs, into the elevator she ran. Seconds later, out of the elevator, down the hall, skid to the right, skid to the left, pause, straighten shirt, deep breath, open door, and there she was. Homeroom with Instructor Number Fourteen. Also known as, Quistis Trepe. Does that name ring any bells? And who should be sitting in the back but Seifer Almasy himself, all laid back with his feet propped up on the computer panel in front of him! Can you guess where the only free seat is?

Quistis seemed startled at her sudden entrance, but soon her face faded and she smiled politely. "You must be Julie. I had heard I would have a new student in my homeroom today."

Julie smiled in return. "I'm sorry I'm late. I overslept."

Quistis nodded. "It's perfectly all right. Please take a seat. Um…" She paused, pen on her lower lip, to observe the classroom. "The only available seat is by Mr. Almasy back there."

Julie nodded and started soundlessly for the chair. She sat down with a sigh and withdrew a notebook and drawing pencil from her bag to try and keep her mind off the person sitting beside her. Propping her knees up on the panel before her, she slouched down and proceeded to draw a replica of her gunblade. She'd drawn the revolver and the blade and begun on the details of the rose when a close presence alerted her of someone watching her work. She glanced up to see Seifer inspecting her artwork. Gently, almost as though he were silently asking of her approval, he took the pencil and paper away from her. She gave it up easily enough, curious as to what his intentions were.

He erased the rose and part of the revolver and added a few changes. His hands worked expertly over the drawing for a few antagonizing seconds before he handed the pad back to her. What she saw was a picture of a new gunblade. In the place of her rose was Seifer's symbol, the Hyperion Cross. She looked up at him, her eyes questioning, and he pointed to the picture, then to himself.

She nodded, then erased his changes and redid her own. That finished, she pointed to the new picture and then to herself. Seifer nodded.

Taking the pencil—but leaving the pad in her lap—he wrote above the picture: _You're Julie Adams?_

She nodded.

He nodded in return and wrote: _We're training together. I'm Seifer_.

She took the pencil from him and wrote beneath his writing: _I know._

Julie passed the pencil back to him when he gestured for it. _You weren't what I expected to see._

She frowned and wrote: _What do you mean?_

He smiled. _Most gunbladers are either guys or ugly girls_.

She grinned. _And I'm neither?_

He shook his head and wrote: _I would've pegged you as either a knife or pistol girl. Not a gunblade._

That made her smile widen. _Then I'm glad I could prove you wrong_.

"Julie Adams!" Quistis' voice rang through the classroom. "Please pay attention."

Julie, having heard her name, sat up quickly and was only rewarded by banging her knee against the panel. "Ouch!" She shouted, loud enough where everyone could hear.

Seifer snorted and tried feebly to turn his laugh into a cough. He slid lower into his seat to keep the Instructor from seeing his body shuddering with silent laughter.

Julie was tempted to hit him, but she fought off the impulse. After all, she didn't know just how 'dangerous' this guy really was. According to everyone else, he was the kind of guy who would break you neck at the drop of a hat. But to Julie he just seemed like an ordinary guy—or as ordinary as someone with his good looks can get—trying to fit in and be like everyone else.

She shot him a dirty look and mouthed the words, "Don't laugh."

He held up his hands in surrender. "Sorry," he whispered almost inaudibly.

Julie heard the _ding_ of a bell, which reminded her of an elevator announcing it was about to stop, through a speaker in the ceiling.

"Class dismissed." Quistis voice gained strength so she could talk over the shuffling of books and papers. "And Seifer? Can I speak with you at my desk, please?"

Julie closed the notepad and jammed it down into her backpack. She'd just started to stand up and follow Seifer into the aisle when her foot caught onto the chair and she tumbled to the ground, papers flying everywhere. And everyone else, in their rush to leave for their next class or just to get out of this one, didn't see her. Cursing silently, she grabbed the papers and tried sorting them into order.

When she heard her name, she stopped dead.

"What about this Julie Adams girl, Seifer?" It was Instructor Quistis' voice.

A masculine sigh followed. "We're training together, Quistis. No big deal."

"We're just trying to help."

Another sigh. Julie ducked behind the panels to make sure she couldn't be seen. "I know, Quistis. I know." _Why is he calling her by her name and not by her title as an instructor?_ Julie wondered idly.

"I assume you're taking the field exam in two weeks?"

"Yeah."

"And what do you plan on doing after the exam?"

"Depends on whether or not I pass it this time."

Julie peeked between a crack in the panels to see Seifer leaned forward, hands braced on Quistis' desk, head down. Quistis was standing behind the desk, a small smile playing across her lips. "Everyone has faith in you. Even Squall has said he thinks you'll do well this time."

"I'm touched." His voice dripped with sarcasm.

"How have you been for the past six months, Seifer? We didn't hear from you hardly at all when you left for FH."

Seifer leaned his hip against the desk and crossed his arms. He shrugged. "I don't know. I guess I was all right while I was gone. Nothing really amazing happened while I was out there, but I guess that's a good thing."

She nodded. "That was probably a good thing. We all needed some down time. Saving the world from an evil sorceress is hard work."

_Who saved the world from an evil sorceress?_ Julie wondered, her mind swimming with confusion.

"_You guys_ saved the world. I was just…" He shook his head and straightened. "Never mind. That was months ago. Time to move on. I have a class right now and I need to find that Julie girl to figure out when she wants to start training and all that crap. I'll see you later." Seifer left without another word, and Julie prayed to Hyne that Quistis would take a work break or something to give her a chance to escape.

Hyne answered her prayers. Quistis heaved a great sigh and followed Seifer out of the room, giving Julie the perfect opportunity to hop up out of the floor and take off at a mad dash for the door. She checked the hallway first to make sure neither the Instructor nor Seifer were around to see her leave the room after them.

Hitching her backpack up higher on her back, Julie started down the hallway for the elevator. She was hungry, so why not grab some grub on her way to her next class?

Taking the elevator down to the first floor was as uneventful and nauseating as it always was. When she stepped off onto the first floor, she saw none other than Seifer.

"Why, hello there." He exclaimed, trademark smirk firmly in place. "Where are you headed?" He asked, falling into step beside her.

"The cafeteria. I haven't eaten breakfast yet." Julie replied.

"That sounds interesting." Seifer responded off-handedly, plucking some tiny speck of something off his coat that no one but he would see simply because it was there and it bothered him.

"Would you like to come?" Julie invited, eyeing him curiously. She knew this man was supposed to be dangerous—he'd led the Galbadian army, after all—but she just didn't see it. She didn't understand why people couldn't forgive and forget.

He seemed taken aback. "What?"

"I said would you like—."

"I know what you said, but—are you sure?" He frowned unknowingly.

"Don't frown like that or you'll ruin your looks."

The frown let up and he smiled. "Very funny." However, his eyes darkened once again when he thought back to the conversation. "I don't know—."

"Julie!" A new voice from in front of them a few yards called. "Can you come here for a second?" It was the trio. Alicia, Kristy, and Kaitlynn.

"Friends of yours?" Seifer asked, gesturing to the girls with a nod.

Julie turned her head so the girls couldn't see and grimaced. "They like to think they are."

Seifer chuckled.

"Wait for me, all right? This shouldn't take long."

He shrugged and ambled aimlessly over to the side to watch the water spout out of the fountains that surrounded the circular hall. Julie watched him walk, entranced by the white coat swishing around his ankles. When she realized she was staring, she shook herself out of the trance and walked over to the girls.

"What? I was about to go get breakfast before my next class." Julie demanded.

"What are you doing?" They asked immediately.

"Did you not just hear me?" She snapped somewhat moodily. "I said I was going to go get breakfast before my next class."

"With _him_?" Kaitlynn asked, turning her nose up at Seifer's back.

Julie rolled her eyes. "Is that what this is about?"

"Julie, he's _dangerous_. He's a _criminal_. You don't need to associate with people like that. Not to mention you'll ruin your social career."

How funny that they think she actually cares. "Yeah, whatever. I really don't care if people don't want me to talk to him. He's really not such a bad guy, and we're training together so why not get to know him a little better?"

"I just don't think it's such a good idea, hun." Alicia said doubtfully, eyeing Seifer from afar. Thankfully, he couldn't see their stares. His back was to them.

"Well, I didn't ask what you thought." She hissed and turned to leave them.

She leaned her elbows on the rail beside Seifer, studying him thoughtfully. He hadn't noticed her yet, his eyes staying glued to the water fountain.

Why did everyone think he was so dangerous? What exactly had he done? She had never really heard details. She knew he worked for the sorceress and he led her country's army, but what else?

He turned his head to face her, a few strands of golden blonde falling haphazardly into his eyes. His full lips parted to speak, his baritone voice sounding deep and melodious. His blue-green eyes gazed into hers, the emotion she saw there making her feel disoriented. She felt sorry for him, actually. No one deserved to be treated so shamefully.

He thumped her in the arm.

"Ouch!" She said, rubbing her arm.

"Oh, ok. I thought maybe you went into a coma or were having a seizure or something. Did you hear what I said?" He asked.

"No." She confessed.

"I didn't think so. I said, 'do you still want to eat breakfast'."

"Oh." She had the grace to blush for staring so deeply at him. "Yes, I do—if you plan on joining me, that is."

He sighed. "Are you sure? You don't want to risk your social standing for someone like me, do you?" She wasn't quite dumb enough to miss the scorn in his statement. _Maybe he knows why they wanted to talk to me_.

She thrust her chin into the air. "I don't have a social standing, and I associate with whoever I choose to. No one can change that."

She saw the very beginnings of a smile before he covered it up and nodded. It made her chest feel tighter to know she'd gotten the social leper to smile. "Oh, hey." She said as they started walking toward the cafeteria again. "We need to think of a time to train, don't we?"

He nodded. "Would you prefer not to train every day? We could only do it like, three times a week if you want."

She shrugged. "I can handle every weekday if you can."

He smirked. "All right. What about 5:30 in the evening?"

She nodded. "Monday through Friday at 5:30. That sounds good to me."

When she realized that she wasn't the only one who hadn't eaten this morning and that there would be other people in there with them, Julie's stomach churned violently. She didn't care what they thought of her talking to the Almasy, but it bothered her that they were so openly hostile about it.

The stares and whispering were double what they usually were because he actually had someone with him this morning. Julie, who was in front of Seifer, slowed down unconsciously, feeling particularly vulnerable that people were staring and she was without her blade, Rosary.

Feeling Seifer's gloved hand on the small of her back was like dumping her in ice water. She didn't turn around to face him, and instead kept facing forward to keep her brave façade up. He leaned in close to her and whispered into her ear, "Welcome to my life, Julie." His voice sounded so life-weary. Her gut flipped again with sympathy for him.

_And to think, I was one of the people staring at him like an idiot yesterday at lunch._ She sighed and turned her head so she could see him.

"Are you going to get anything?" She asked, trying—and not succeeding—to ignore all the eyeballs glaring disapprovingly at her.

He shrugged. "What are you getting?" _He does a much better job of ignoring them than I do._ Her mind didn't hesitate to reply to her statement. _Because he's used to this. It's a constant, everyday thing for him._

_Oh, Seifer. I'm so, so very sorry._ Instead of letting the glowering faces bother her anymore, she returned them. When she passed by a cliché of girls sitting together who were very obviously staring down their noses at her, she responded to the mistreatment by edging closer to one of their chairs and kicking the leg as she walked by. The girl nearly toppled out of her chair.

Julie's eyes swept around the room again, daring people to stare, and slowly the room returned to normal. People began to turn away and carry on with their meals and friends, picking up their conversations where they left off. Seifer was staring at Julie with a strange look on his face.

"What?" She asked, suddenly very aware that he still had his hand on her back and that his eyes were gradually boring holes into hers. "Are you not hungry anymore?"

"Yeah, I am." He said incredulously. "Let me buy your breakfast."

"What? Why?" Julie asked. Curiosity was tugging at her insides.

"Thank you." Was all he said.

"For what?"

"For what you did back there."

Julie blushed and shrugged. "No one deserves to be treated that way."

He shook his head. "I do."

A line formed between Julie's eyebrows. "No, you don't."

"If you knew what happened then you would agree." His voice gained strength.

Becoming somewhat frustrated, Julie's voice matched his. "Then tell me." She demanded.

He opened his mouth in a snarl and grabbed her upper arm. All the spectators—there were still many—would love spending the day trying to figure out why he'd done that.

"Come with me." He pulled her by the arm in the direction of the door, but she stopped him by saying, "What about food?"

Seifer veered in the opposite direction and stopped at the buffet area. "Pick something." He commanded harshly.

Julie seriously considered punching that romantic face right in the eye at that moment, but she disregarded it when her stomach growled so loudly a few people nearby gave her a strange look. Even though her stomach protested, she wasn't in the mood for food anymore. She grabbed a banana off the fruit tray and turned to Seifer.

"Where to?"

* * *

Hahaha! A kinda-sorta-not-really-but-still-kinda cliffhanger! Ooh the suspense! Lol! Well, hey. I have a question for you readers out there. What do you honestly think about Seifer getting the hook-up with OC's? I haven't seen that many, so maybe people just don't like it that much? Let me know what ya'll think, so if I'm making a mistake I won't embarrass myself anymore, ok? Lol. I'll try and update soon! Please review! It makes me happy and it tells me what I'm doing wrong. 


	3. The truth comes out of hiding

Chapter 3! I have no idea when I'll get this up. Sometimes my computer decides to hate me and doesn't let me get on the website to update even though I've finished the chapter. So, if I really don't update I'm either having writer's block or it won't let me.

Recap! Seifer went to eat breakfast with his training partner/new girl/main character, Julie, and the stares they got provoked her into asking him what happened. He was about to take her somewhere, but when I left off you had no idea where or why or what might happen. Mua hahahahahaha! I could get used to these cliffhangers. It's supposed to keep people coming back for more. Oh! And I also asked you people what you thought of SeiferOC fics. I hope I get some answers.

And I know it may seem like I'm going really fast, as shootski pointed out, but this is how I feel like it needs to go. Everyone already knows the history of Seifer the Lapdog, and I'm just trying to establish all this for Julie. Right now, I've got it figured that Seifer thinks, 'well why not go ahead and tell her so she knows about what happened? Everyone else does'. Things will slow down later, I hope.

* * *

Chapter 3: "The truth comes out of hiding"

Seifer didn't say a word as he strode down the hallway, each motion displaying his anger. Julie knew now what kind of temper he had, but she also knew that sometimes people like Seifer _needed_ someone to push them until they cracked. It was good for them to finally find an outlet. And something told her Seifer had needed an outlet for a long time.

She saw a sign as they passed it, indicating that he was leading her into the Training Center. She frowned. Were they going to train now?

"Seifer?" She asked hesitantly. "I don't have my gunblade with me."

"You don't need it." He replied shortly.

She sighed. "Okay…" She said slowly. "Then why are we going into the Training Center? I have a class to be getting to, you know."

"Skip it."

"Seifer!" She exclaimed, tugging on his arm and pulling him to a halt. "This is my first day. I don't think I really need to be skipping class yet."

When he stared into her eyes, all thoughts about leaving him now to go to some class that she'd probably wind up falling asleep in left her. He looked so—desperate. Julie tried to swallow, but she couldn't move her tongue from the roof of her mouth.

"Please." He whispered, not even blinking.

Slowly, Julie nodded. "Okay, Seifer. Let's go."

He nodded once and continued the beeline for the Training Center. Neither of them spoke a word until they were inside the makeshift jungle. And only then it was Julie breaking the silence with an awed, "wow…"

Seifer led her through the forest and through another door, which put them on a balcony type thing (AN: I'm going off memory on how this place looks so bear with me if it ain't perfect, kay?).

She watched Seifer walk to the rail and lean his elbows on it, staring around the scenery. She didn't understand him—not that she should, considering she just met him earlier today. But that was beside the point. What had happened that was so awful in his past that made people react this way?

"Seifer?" She asked tentatively, walking up beside him.

He smiled, or so she thought. It was gone so quickly that she almost thought she imagined it. "This is where the students come when they want to skip curfew and be with their boyfriends and girlfriends. They're all in class now, so it should be empty until after dinner hours. That's when they all start flocking here. I used to be on the Disciplinary Committee, and it was my job to break up the couples and send them back to their dorms." He chuckled, but it was a cold sound. "I was such a bully."

Julie smiled despite the morbid atmosphere in the air. She'd never heard someone _admit_ to being a bully before. " 'Was'?" She repeated.

"Something happened. There was a girl I was seeing for a while, named Rinoa. She was part of a resistance group in Timber, called the Forest Owls. I introduced her to the Headmaster in the hopes that she would be able to hire some SeeDs to help her liberate Timber from the Galbadians." He shot her a look. "Maybe you remember when your country had them under control?"

She nodded. "Of course I do."

"Anyway, she convinced him to send three SeeD's. I had planned on being a part of that group, but I…didn't pass the field exam. And because of a misunderstanding with that field exam, I was withheld within the Garden, almost like being in prison. They even had guards standing outside the room they'd locked me in to make sure I couldn't leave.

When I found out which SeeDs they sent, I was furious. They sent three rookies who had just passed the field exam, which was the same one I'd taken. Squall, who is now the commander of Garden, Zell Dincht, a martial artist, and Selphie, the Garden Festival Committee leader. I couldn't believe he thought they were experienced enough to help a resistance group liberate Timber." He paused for heavy sigh. "I broke out of my prison, injured countless people along the way, hopped onto a train without buying a ticket, and took the President hostage on live television."

Julie did remember seeing that. It was almost impossible for her to grasp that the same man who'd been shouting on the electric screen was the man standing before her now. Everything about him seemed different. It was almost alien to relate the memory of him with the present Seifer she was seeing.

He let out his breath in a hiss, startling her from her thoughts. "That was where the Sorceress came in."

The next half hour was spent talking about what happened, and it sent Julie's mind reeling from it all. She caught things like Time Compression and Sorceress Wars and end of the world, and it all meshed together and she couldn't handle it. When everything began to turn gray and foggy, she reached out a hand to try and steady herself. As she fell, she heard Seifer's deep voice call her name and catch her before she hit the ground.

She passed out.

* * *

When she woke up, she was alone in a hospital bed. Julie sat up so quickly she saw spots, but that didn't stop her from standing up and walking out of the room.

"Well, I see someone's finally woken up." Dr. Kadowaki announced Julie's entrance into the waiting room, where Quistis and Kadowaki had clearly been discussing the student who'd just waltzed in.

"What happened?" Julie asked.

"Seifer brought you in. He said you two had been in the Training Center, but that you hadn't fought anything. You're not prone to this kind of behavior, are you?" Kadowaki asked. Quistis studied her intently but remained silent.

Julie shook her head. "No, I guess…I just didn't get enough sleep last night. It was a new bed and I'm just not accustomed to everything here yet." She continued a little too quickly with, "Where did Seifer go?"

The two older women exchanged a glance and shrugged. "We don't know. We try not to keep up with his daily schedule. He probably went off to class, seeing as you two were in the Training Center when you both had classes to be attending." Kadowaki gave her a knowing glance.

Julie flushed a deep shade of pink. "Then I should probably be getting to class. There's no reason for me to stay; I'm perfectly fine now. Good-bye!"

They were shouting protests as Julie shot out of the room. She didn't know what class she was supposed to be going to, and she didn't care. She knew where she was headed. She needed time to think, to organize everything Seifer had told her earlier. It was all coming back to her now that she was fully awake. Ultimecia, Edea, orphanage, Time Compression, Laguna…_Seifer_. Seifer had hurt so many innocent people. Her mind was still having a hard time accepting it all.

She ran to her room, retrieved Rosary, and found herself standing before the Training Center doorway in five minutes. It was a habit of hers to desire a fight whenever she was confused.

Julie instantly ran upon a T-Rexaur when she walked three feet from the door, feeding upon some other poor monster. She took it by surprise by shooting it in the side, and within seconds she was dodging thick claws and heavy jaws and swinging her sword with all her skill. She purposefully let the thing live on countless occasions so she could fight longer. When she was beginning to feel fatigued, she maneuvered beneath the beast and stabbed it in the heart.

When it fell over sideways dead and Julie's heartbeat slowed down enough for her to hear past it, she heard voices.

"…All right?" It was a deep voice. A man's.

"Yes, she's fine. She woke up a few minutes ago and ran out of the room before we could get a good look at her. What happened, Seifer?" That was Quistis.

Julie inched forward and hid in some thick ferns. She placed the tip of her gunblade on the ground and leaned against it, peering through the thick leaves at the two people standing in the training center. From the looks of him, Seifer had been here for quite a while fighting off anything that came his way. He had a smear of blood on his head and the sleeve of his white trenchcoat, apparently where he'd tried wiping it off the side of his head. He had smudges of dirt covering him in sporadic places as though he'd been wrestling with something rather large—and winning. His gunblade also had a smear of blood on it, as did Julie's. His hair was messed and dirty, but it didn't take away from his looks, by any means. If anything, it made him look all the more desirable.

Seifer sighed and ran his fingers through said messy hair. "I told her what happened six months ago."

"And she passed out?"

"Wouldn't you if someone told you all that in an hour and a half?" He responded sharply. Quistis didn't reply.

"Why did you tell her?" She questioned.

He shrugged. "Everyone else knows about it, why shouldn't she?"

"But not everyone was given so much detail over every tiny thing, Seifer. You barely know her. How do you know you can trust her with that kind of information?"

"I don't!" He shouted, shoving his gunblade into the ground. "Quistis, you're never in the cafeteria when I go in there, are you?"

She looked away. "I was once."

"It's not a pretty sight, is it?"

She shook her head, still refusing to meet his gaze. "No. What of it?"

He smiled at the memory, and Julie smiled in her hiding place as well, knowing exactly what he was about to say. However, he didn't say what she expected him to. Instead, he shook his head. "Never mind. Look, I trust her, and that's all that matters. She's nice to me; she doesn't judge me—."

"Because she didn't know your history like everyone else!" Quistis burst out. "How will she treat you now that she knows everything, Seifer? Not even Cid knows everything about what happened, and yet you explained everything to the new girl. Why?"

"Why do you care, Quistis? You've got your little group of nitwit friends. Leave me be." He spat.

"You know I won't do that."

"And why not?" He challenged.

"Because you are my student," she hissed. "And I've never given up on any of my students before. I don't intend to start with someone like you. You may be an arrogant fool, Seifer, but you won't push me away. I want to help you."

"I don't need your help." He retorted viciously.

"You need someone's. Maybe you'll put your trust in Julie, or maybe it'll be someone else entirely. But please let someone in. You can't live alone. Fujin and Raijin aren't here now to be your posse. They ran away together and are currently residing in Fisherman's Horizon. You used to confide in them, but now who is there for you?" She asked, seeming to break through his walls briefly. He looked away from her, his eyes sore.

She took a breath to say more, but Julie wasn't paying attention anymore. She had heard something move behind her. She couldn't see any kind of monster behind her, but she knew that didn't mean very much. She stood cautiously and walked toward the general direction where she'd heard the noise. She'd barely taken a step when something tackled her.

Julie flew out of the giant ferns where she'd been hiding. She managed to get one shot off before her gunblade was knocked unceremoniously out of her hand, spraining her wrist in the process. She let out an involuntary screech of pain when her wrist cracked, painfully close to breaking point.

The thing on top of her was similar to a plant. It was about six or seven feet tall with vines for arms…similar to an octopus in a weird, demented kind of way. One of the vine-like things wrapped around her torso to hold her down, and another wrapped around her neck to choke her. Two more seized her wrists—which didn't help her nearly broken one very much, either—to keep her from struggling.

She'd begun trying to kick when suddenly there was a shadow standing over her with a blade pointed in the thing's face. The blade had a little hole in it, and then it was shooting bullets into the thing, deafening Julie in the process. She didn't appreciate having a gunblade shot right beside her ear, but she wasn't one to complain at the moment. She was more worried about surviving.

Her ears were ringing and she had the monster's green blood on her seconds later as it collapsed on top of her. Seifer bent down and threw it off her and offered his hand to help her up. She gingerly took his hand, and he pulled her to her feet.

"Seifer," Quistis called, "I have a class that I'm going to be late for. I'll see you two tomorrow."

Seifer nodded briefly at her before turning to Julie and saying, "What did you hear?"

Julie bit her lip, and he sighed.

* * *

I'm evil, but I must stop there. This is already like, 5 pages long! No, it just turned to six because of this right here! I'll keep this short, review! And I'll add more when I can. I've been really busy. All West try-outs are coming up soon (band thing. It's really important,though) so wish me luck! 


	4. Popping the Question

I own absolutely nothing, because if I did I wouldn't be on here writing this crazy fanfiction.

Woo-hoo! Time for chapter 4!

By the way, I feel like I've been putting Seifer kind of OOC, so I'll try to do better about that.

* * *

Chapter 4: "Popping the Question"

Julie walked purposefully away from Seifer, knowing his eyes were boring holes into her back, and retrieved her gunblade.

"Is that yours?" He asked, suddenly interested.

She nodded. "Yeah."

"Let me see." He handed his to her when he took hers to give her something to inspect as well.

Seifer's gunblade was significantly heavier than Julie's, but she liked hers to be as light as possible. She could use it one-handed, which left her other hand open for magic whenever she needed it.

"Wow…" He murmured and slashed it through the air. "Whoever made it knew what they were doing."

She nodded, and for some reason her chest tightened at the indirect compliment. Seifer Almasy, master gunblader, liked _her_ gunblade. Well, maybe 'master' was stretching the truth a bit far, but from what she'd heard he was an excellent fighter.

The exchanged once again, and she stared up at him curiously. "So, what did I interrupt?"

Seifer sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "I'm glad you did interrupt," he said. "Quistis likes to go out of her way to try and help me." He rolled his eyes. "She's a royal pain in the ass if you ask me."

Julie laughed. "You don't talk about her like she is your instructor and homeroom teacher." She observed.

"She's my age, Julie." He told her.

"Really?"

He nodded. "And after the…thing with Ultimecia, formality didn't seem like a top priority with anyone. She doesn't bother to correct me anymore." He shrugged. "So I don't worry about it."

"What about the others who were involved?"

He grinned. "They all have their own nicknames, given to them by yours truly. If you ever catch me around them you'll hear them."

They both laughed.

"Come on," he gestured for her to walk with him. "I'll walk you back to your dorm."

* * *

Julie was on her way to supper that night, alone, when she was abruptly confronted by a young woman with dark hair in a long, blue sweater/jacket with two wings on the shoulder blades.

"Are you Julie Adams?" The girl asked.

Julie stopped walking, her surprise making her forget to keep moving her feet. "…Yes…why?"

"Hi. I'm Rinoa." The girl stuck out a hand, and Julie shook it hesitantly. This was…interesting.

"Can I help you, Rinoa?" Julie asked, narrowing her eyes.

"Oh, sorry. You probably think I'm crazy." Rinoa laughed.

Julie calmed down a bit and smiled.

"But," Rinoa continued, "I'm a friend—well not a friend, really, more like an acquaintance—of Seifer's."

_Even when he is hated, Seifer is the center of everyone's attention whether he realizes that or not_, Julie noted as the girl continued to speak.

"We've been trying to get Seifer to loosen up since he's returned to the school, but so far all he's done is ignore us mostly or say some rude comment. Anyway, we're going out into Balamb tomorrow night, and we wanted to know if you could convince Seifer to come with you."

Julie was speechless. They wanted her to _what_? "You want me to ask Seifer out on a date?"

"No, no, no! I wouldn't put something _that_ life-threatening on anyone." She laughed, and Julie smiled again and rolled her eyes playfully. "Quistis told me that Seifer seems to act a bit different around you and he doesn't seem so…" She stopped for lack of a good word.

"Anal?" Julie offered.

"Yes!" Rinoa snapped her fingers. "So, since you get him to calm down some, do you think you could get him to come out with us in a little group outing? It would be good for him: a nice change of scenery. And we can introduce you to everyone. You'll already know Seifer, Quistis, and I, so that only leaves four others, two of which are dating, one of the others is dating me, and the other is just…well you'll see." She paused for a much-needed breath. "So, what do you say?"

Julie regarded Rinoa carefully before nodding slowly. "I don't know if he'll agree to come along, but I'll see what I can do." What harm could it do to ask him? Sure, they'd only known each other for two days now, but that doesn't matter.

She still couldn't shake the fact that she could swear Rinoa had just asked her to ask him out on a date, though.

* * *

The next morning, on the walk to homeroom, Julie was getting butterflies just _thinking_ about 'popping the question' to Seifer about that night. When she sat down beside him in the back, the butterflies escalated to buzzards.

She withdrew her notebook and proceeded to write the question down. She figured she was less likely to get in trouble for not paying attention that way and it was easier to ask him.

_Your friend Rinoa invited me to go out to Balamb with them to eat somewhere, and we were wondering if you would like to join us_. She passed the notebook over to his lap and handed him the pencil.

He read it and frowned, and Julie's stomach actually, literally did a somersault.

He wrote something down and passed the pad back to her: _I don't think it's such a good idea._

Julie sighed. _Well, I didn't have the heart to turn her down; she seemed like a sweet girl. And I won't know any of them. Can you just go to be my support?_ No one could deflect the 'damsel in distress' playoff.

He grimaced. _Can't Rinoa or Quistis be your support?_

She rolled her eyes. _Quistis…my homeroom teacher…it'll be weird enough going out to eat with her, much less five others I barely know_.

He was quick to respond with: _You barely know me, too_.

_But I know you better than I know any of them_._ Please just go for me. I won't feel so out-of-place if you're there_.

She could've sworn he'd muttered, "but I'll be out of place" when he read that. He wrote back: _I don't really want to, but I guess I will._

She did nothing on the outside but write an enormous "Thank You" that took up the other half of the page, but on the inside she was screaming with relief.

* * *

All right, all right! I know it's a short chapter! I just wanted to go ahead and get this out there so I can start on the next chapter, which I assure you will be longer. Kay? Please review! 


	5. Getting the Beast to be Human

Yay, me! On with Chapter 5! I've got some really awesome ideas for this chapter…or what I think will be awesome, anyway. I hope you guys like it! I'm getting into this story, too. So hopefully the updates will keep coming as quickly as they are now.

Thanks to everyone who reviewed my last chapter! I've heard only good things about it so far, so that only makes me want to keep updating. Thanks for the support, guys! I love you! Now…I give you Chapter 5!

* * *

Chapter 5: "Becoming Human" 

Julie was rushing around in her last attempt to find something to wear for the evening. She'd discussed it with Rinoa when she'd relayed the information that Seifer would be going. Rinoa seemed thoroughly surprised—and pleased—that she'd managed to ease Seifer into joining them. Rinoa had suggested she wear something that would go well with her "look". The thing was…Julie didn't know what "look" she had. Even as she "looked" in the mirror, she could only see Average Julie, or that was what _she_ saw anyway.

She'd decided on tight black jeans and shiny black boots with a pencil thin heel. It was the shirt she was having a problem deciding on. She had _light_ brown hair, which she didn't think went well with a completely black outfit, and she also had dark blue eyes. She'd come to find that light colored shirts worked best with her eyes. It brought out the blue, for some reason.

She rushed to the closet, knowing it was seven o' clock and knowing she had fifteen minutes before Seifer said he would be to her room to pick her up. The others would be waiting at the front gate with a car.

She grabbed a light pink spaghetti-strapped shirt that had tiny gold sequins on the bottom hem. The shirt barely met her pants, and when she raised her arms it revealed milky white skin underneath. She completed the ensemble just as she heard a knock on her door by adding small cubic zirconium stud earrings and a choker necklace that had a silver rose on it. The rose set on the hollow of her throat, where her collarbones met. The earrings glittered in the light, and the necklace added a little spunk to the outfit. She considered grabbing a sweater or something, but it was decided for her when Seifer knocked on the door again.

Julie ran for the door, stopped to fluff her fixed wavy hair—which had taken her nearly an hour to get right, and opened the door.

She had to blink a few times to make sure it was actually Seifer that stood before her. He had ditched his usual blue shirt with the white cross on it and the black pants for a black, button down shirt that wasn't buttoned at the top and revealed a white shirt underneath and casual faded blue jeans. The coat was thrown across his forearm. Soft black boots and a silver, expensive looking watch completed the look. Once again, a few rebellious hairs fell into his eyes, but it did nothing to take away from the appearance, by any means.

"I…" Julie started to apologize for making him wait, if only for a few minutes, but it seemed as though her tongue couldn't form words.

Seifer wasn't doing much better. Julie looked gorgeous. The black pants were like a second skin, and he was actually surprised she had curves like that. Sure, her pants were a little tight during school, but this was something else. And the shirt didn't leave much to the imagination. It was tight itself, revealing an hourglass figure and creamy, pale skin. Her hair framed her face, and the silver she was wearing somehow seemed to make her eyes look even larger. Pink lip-gloss made her lips look much too kissable for her own good.

And, of course, he was the first to recover his wits. He held out an arm, offering her to take it. "This way, beautiful."

Julie blushed and took his arm. Even in heels, she noticed, her eyes were only level with his mouth. And oh, that mouth. He was _very_ handsome. No, handsome was too colorless a word. He was…_damn_ sexy.

"Where'd you find the shirt?" She asked, plucking at the sleeve as she spoke.

He grinned. "Oh, it was just something I had, you know, lying around." He glanced down her body. "Where'd you find those pants?"

"It was just something I had, you know, lying around." She mocked, and he laughed richly. She found the sound to be oddly melodious and contagious, and she found herself laughing alongside him for no particular reason.

Everything was fine until they reached the gate and Julie could see the car. Then, she felt Seifer's arm tense, and when she looked up at him curiously, she noticed that his entire body seemed tensed up. _Maybe I shouldn't have pushed him into this_. Hoping to offer her support, she unhooked her arm from his and wrapped it around his back.

He seemed startled at first and looked down at her. She smiled supportively, and his eyes softened slightly. He didn't have to say anything, but his expression was clearly shouting, "_Thank you_".

"It'll be okay, Seifer." She muttered to him before the others were within hearing range. He took a deep, stabilizing breath and nodded.

"Hey, guys!" Rinoa greeted jovially. "Climb in!"

Inside, the car was the kind that had two benches on either side. A cowboy and a petite girl in a red dress were sitting together, and beside them was a short, spiky blonde-headed guy with a tattoo on the side of his face. Beside him was Julie's homeroom teacher, Quistis Trepe. Rinoa was sitting on the other bench by herself in beige pants and a blue shirt, next to the window where the driver could be seen, who was a young man in black with a faux-fur collar around the jacket. Three guesses as to who that is, and the first two don't count.

Julie could swear up and down the tension in the car was so thick that she could've cut it with her blade. And once glance behind her at Seifer told her he felt exactly the same way, only all the tension was aimed at him, so she was sure he felt it more.

She sat down beside Rinoa, and Seifer took the last remaining seat and stretched out, making himself comfortable. Julie felt the buzzards in her stomach once again when he just _happened_ to stretch one arm out over the back of her seat—which was as close to putting his arm around her as he'd ever done.

Thankfully, Rinoa didn't stay silent. "Julie, let me introduce you to everyone. The cowboy is Irvine Kinneas, the girl beside him is Selphie Tilmitt—they're dating. The short one is Zell Dincht."

"Hey!" He protested. "I'm not that short!"

Seifer snorted. "Sure, Chicken wuss. Whatever you say."

The 'Chicken wuss' only growled in response and crossed his arms defensively. Rinoa laughed, and Julie found herself smiling in mild sympathy for Zell.

"The driver is my boyfriend, Squall Leonheart, and of course you know Quistis."

"Yes, we all know who Puberty Boy is." Seifer murmured so quietly that only Julie heard him. Julie understood. She remembered everything Seifer had told her about these people. These were the very people who had defeated him and the Sorceress. She'd failed to think of that earlier or she might not have even asked him to put up with them all evening.

She wanted to convey that to him somehow, but she didn't know how that none of the others would notice. Instead, she only cleared her throat and shifted slightly, earning herself a meaningless glance from Seifer. She ran her fingers through her hair, realizing he was still staring at her.

Julie turned her head slightly to look at him, and she instantly wondered what color his eyes were. They were too green to be blue, but they were too blue to be green. After puzzling it out for a few antagonizing seconds, she came up with it. _Turquoise_, she thought in revelation. She didn't fail to notice that those eyes glanced down at her lips on more than one occasion during their little staring contest. At last, he turned away, staring instead at a black spot on the floor.

Julie looked away as well, and it was then that she found that both Quistis and Rinoa had been watching them watch each other. She felt a violent blush creep up on her and, as though he could suddenly feel the heat radiating off of her, Seifer turned back to look at her questioningly. It was then that he saw them staring, as well.

Julie could swear she'd seen him blush as well, but it was gone too quickly for her to tell if it had only been a figment of her imagination. Seifer didn't seem like the kind of man who would blush, did he?

After what seemed like hours of awkward silences and was probably no more than ten minutes, the car slowed to a halt. Seifer, being the closest one to the door, exited first, followed by Julie. The cool air felt wonderful on her still somewhat heated skin.

"You all right?" Seifer asked as everyone else filed out of the car.

She nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine. It was just a little warm in there."

"Yeah, no kidding." She didn't fail to see him shoot Quistis and Rinoa a death glare.

Julie laughed and punched him softly in the stomach. He grunted and ruffled her hair when she tried to walk away. "Aw, Seifer! Not the hair." She grumbled and combed her fingers through the wavy locks in an attempt to straighten the mess he'd made.

The air surrounding the group seemed to calm down as they walked into the club/restaurant. They were cracking jokes as they sat down and ordered and talking happily like nothing had happened in the car. Of course, the two who did the least amount of talking were Julie and Seifer.

The place was a nice one. It was dimly lit, and they were sitting at a round booth. There was a dance floor in the middle of the room where people were—big surprise here—dancing. There were different colored lights in the ceiling, and every now and then something would spray fog over the dance floor, giving everything a kind of eerie appearance.

"So Julie, where are you from?" Zell asked her.

Julie had assumed someone would bring her up into the conversation eventually. "Galbadia Garden."

"Why were you transferred?" Quistis broke in, taking a delicate bite of celery.

This perked Seifer's attention, especially when Julie laughed.

"It was a stupid reason, really. I didn't get along with one of my teachers."

"Why not?" Seifer asked, intrigued.

"His name was Instructor Winston. He taught a GF class, and he told us everyday that we were in charge of the GF's and that they were basically our slaves. I don't believe that, so I tried to argue with him. He gave me detention for talking back, and I hated him since then. I always played pranks on him, and eventually they decided that if they transferred me to another school then I would get along with my new teachers." She shrugged. "So here I am."

"What pranks?" Seifer asked.

Julie laughed. "Well…I super glued one of his books to the floor one time. He thought someone had just accidentally knocked it off his desk on their way to their seat, so he tried to pick it up." She giggled. "And he couldn't pick it up! He spent like half an hour on it and finally realized what I'd done. He knew it was me; he wasn't entirely stupid. He gave me another detention and made me pay for the book, and when he did I thought that was unfair and thought of my revenge. It was a war since then. After that, I tied buckets of paint to the door, so when he opened the door the paint went all over him."

The whole group busted out laughing, imagining an old man walking through a door and getting multicolored paint all over him.

"Did you get another detention for that?" Quistis inquired.

Julie nodded.

"So, what did you do after that?" Selphie leaned forward over her cheeseburger.

Julie smiled. "I got up that night and tied his desk to the ceiling."

"How did you manage that without help?" Seifer asked and bit into a piece of steak he'd stabbed with his fork.

"I tied a rope to all four legs of the desk, got a ladder from the janitor's closet, and put the rope through one of the rafters that hold the tiles up on the ceiling and used it as a pulley. It was really heavy though. I had to tie the end of the rope to the doorknob so if I accidentally let go of the rope it wouldn't fall and break."

"Another detention?" Rinoa asked, eyes glittering with enjoyment at her story.

Julie nodded.

"And what'd you do?" Irvine asked, settling his arm around Selphie's shoulders.

She smiled sheepishly. "I got up again that night and super glued his door closed so none of us could get into the classroom the next morning. It was after that when they decided they should transfer me before I do something really dangerous, worse than the desk. The next week I was standing before Balamb Garden."

"Not bad." Seifer drawled.

When everyone was finished eating, Selphie pulled Irvine out onto the dance floor. Rinoa followed not long after with Squall in tow. Zell saw some cute girl he started drooling over and went off to ask her to dance, and an attractive young man asked Quistis to dance soon after that, leaving Seifer and Julie sitting alone.

Julie turned to see Seifer staring at her. "Was it as bad as you thought it would be?" She asked.

He didn't respond immediately, and when he did it was to say, "No, it wasn't that bad. How about you?"

She shrugged. "They're nice, I guess. It felt a little awkward, but it wasn't very bad."

"A little?" He leaned over her and threw his white coat in the seat beside her.

When he stood up, she had a moment of confusion before she realized what he was doing. He offered his hand.

"Care to dance?" He smirked that familiar, mischievous smirk of his.

Julie melted when she saw that smirk. As though watching it happen from outside her own body, she saw her hand reach out and take his, saw herself stand and follow him out onto the dance floor.

The lights gave everything a strange hue, and the fog twirled around them as they moved together to the rhythm of the song. The loud bass echoed around them, pumping the floor beneath them. Julie spun around in front of Seifer, her arms above her head. When she felt his strong arms encase her waist, she lowered her arms around his neck and moved closer to him, rolling her body with his. He was so close that she could feel his ragged breathing on her neck and ear. The strobe lights came on, making everything abstract and all the movements seemed unconnected.

Seifer, to put it mildly, was an excellent dancer. All his movements seemed to roll together, and Julie was giving it everything she had just to keep up with him. It had been a while since she'd danced, and it seemed he was a pro at it.

They danced through two very intense songs, and by the end of the second one Julie was beginning to get a little bit of ladylike perspiration—a.k.a. sweat—on her forehead and neck. The song slowed to a slow song, and the entire room seemed to breathe a sigh of relief. Apparently, Julie wasn't the only one who was out of breath and needing a break.

Seifer's arms snaked around her body and pulled her close to him for the slow dance, his cheek pressed against hers. She could feel the heat emanating off his body, feel his chest heaving against hers.

"Tired?" She asked softly, whispering into his ear.

She felt him smile. "Somewhat. How about you?"

She took a deep breath. "I could use some water." She laughed.

"Me, too. Come on." He pulled out of the tight embrace and took her hand gently in his, holding the palm of her hand between his index and middle fingers and his thumb. It made her quite a bit warmer.

At the bar, he ordered two waters and sat down on a red cushioned stool to wait for them. Julie sat down beside him and placed her palms on the cool marble bar in front of her. When the bottles arrived, she used hers to put on her forehead and cool herself down.

"You're a good dancer." Seifer commented, eyeing her keenly.

"Thank you." Julie blushed, and when he noticed it he smirked. "You're not bad yourself. I'm pretty sure I'm a little rusty; I haven't danced in a while."

"I couldn't tell it, don't worry." He smiled knowingly.

Before they could say anything else, Rinoa and Selphie marched over, both boyfriends in tow behind them.

"Hi, guys!" Rinoa greeted. "Where's the other two?"

Julie picked out Quistis and pointed at her, and Seifer found Zell dancing—somewhat comically—with a girl…that wasn't the same one he'd been drooling over earlier.

Quistis was the first to notice that the gang had regrouped, and she walked over while fanning her flushed cheeks. When Zell noticed them, he apologized to the girl he'd been with and bounced his way over to them in a way only Zell can pull off.

"Are you guys ready to go?" Quistis asked.

Seifer shrugged, as did Julie. Rinoa said, "Sure," and Squall just stared at them. Zell was bouncing from foot to foot expectantly.

"Okay then." Quistis said. "Let's go."

The ride back was a lot more comfortable…for everyone. Seifer seemed to have calmed down some—he'd actually laughed a few times on the way back when Squall accidentally hit a pothole and thrown Julie into the floor. When she pulled him down right after for laughing at her, though, he gladly helped her back into her seat.

Back at the school, Seifer offered to walk her to her room. They walked in silence, and when they reached her door Julie felt the temperature rise about ten degrees. _Now what?_

"Um…I had fun tonight." She offered. "I'm glad you came, Seifer."

He nodded. "Me, too. It was better than sitting in my dorm all night, by far."

They trailed off into silence, and Julie found herself staring at the flawless man before her. His blue-green eyes didn't look so tortured anymore. She knew he wasn't lying when he said he'd had fun tonight.

"Can…" He trailed off, like he was suddenly unsure about what he was asking.

"Can you what?" She urged. When he lowered his gaze, she stooped her head to get back in his line of vision.

"Can I meet you for breakfast in the morning?" He asked.

Her face broke out into a smile. "Sure. That sounds great." She reached behind her for the door. "Good night, Seifer."

He smiled. "Good night." He leaned forward and pecked her on the cheek. "I'll see you in the morning."

She nodded, stunned. "Yeah…"

She watched him walk away and then stepped into her room and leaned against the door. Her only thought for the rest of the night before falling into bed was: _wow…_

* * *

Yes! Another chapter! And this is another long one, too! Sorry for the delay. I was working on another story…an original one…so I kind of forgot about this one until I found a review in my inbox today. Yay! Thanks for reminding me! I had fun with this chapter, too. Don't forget to review! It makes me want to keep going! 


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